Pre-employment testing streamlines recruitment processes and helps eliminate bias in hiring decisions.
By using pre-employment testing, your organization can adopt a skills-focused recruitment strategy. This approach evaluates candidates on objective abilities and competencies instead of relying solely on a resume.
There are many platforms on the market, and choosing the right one for your business can be a challenge.
This article breaks down the differences between TestGorilla and Criteria, two popular platforms for evaluating candidates. Both offer a range of assessment options, but TestGorilla has the edge with highly customizable features.
TestGorilla makes recruitment more accurate, customized, and fair with a range of aptitude, skills, and personality tests. With our library of 400+ scientifically validated tests, you can create an assessment tailored to each position.
Assessments are easy to create for recruiters and user-friendly for candidates. Tests can be accessed on any device, making it more likely candidates will complete them.
TestGorilla’s assessments can target a wide range of roles, including those requiring specialized software development and AI skills. Custom video questions and coding challenges make it easy to fit the assessment to the job role.
TestGorilla also offers comprehensive and easy-to-understand reports that provide accurate and objective data to rank candidates fairly. This makes it easier to make the right hiring decision, which helps you reduce employee turnover and limit recruitment costs.
Overall, TestGorilla’s platform helps improve the quality of each hiring decision while limiting the time to hire.
Criteria offers a range of assessments aimed at revealing candidate strengths and weaknesses in areas like job-specific skills, cognitive aptitude, and personality. Most assessments can be accessed on any device.
Alongside its assessments, Criteria offers a structured interviewing tool for asynchronous and live interviews.
Criteria integrates with a wide range of ATS and HRIS platforms, too. It offers insights intended to assist with managing existing talent in addition to recruiting new talent.
A large test library of scientifically vetted questions makes it easier to tailor assessments to the job you’re hiring for. A suite of test types gives a clearer picture of a candidate by testing a range of skills, personality traits, and aptitudes.
TestGorilla revolutionizes hiring with diverse, bias-free tests and a user-friendly platform. See the difference for yourself - sign up for a free live demo today!
TestGorilla offers 400+ pre-employment screening tests across a range of categories. Tests can measure everything from personality traits to customer service skills to coding proficiency.
We regularly add new tests to expand our test library so you can assess more skills. For example, our new Working with Generative AI and AI Product Manager tests let you assess candidates’ AI skills.
Tests include a variety of question formats, including multiple-choice, video responses, open-text answers, and file uploads. Tests can be completed in 15 minutes on any device.
TestGorilla can improve recruitment for global businesses with localized websites in 12 different languages. This makes it easier to build assessments for candidates regardless of their location.
Criteria offers around 27 different pre-employment screening tests. They can be combined to reveal a detailed picture of the candidate across many dimensions, including cognitive aptitude, personality, emotional intelligence, risk, and job-specific skills.
Tests can be customized, and a custom test generator recommends tests relevant to individual business needs.
Criteria offers tests across 23 languages. However, not all tests are available in all languages.
Users can also access programming tests via Criteria’s partnership with HackerRank.
TestGorilla | Criteria | |
Cognitive ability tests | Yes | Yes |
Situational judgment tests | Yes | Yes |
Job-specific tests | Yes | Yes |
Software tests | Yes | Yes |
Programming tests (including coding challenges) | Yes | Yes (via partnership with HackerRank) |
Language tests | Yes | Yes (English only) |
Personality tests | Yes | Yes |
Culture-add test | Yes | Yes |
Your own custom tests | Yes | |
Custom questions per assessment | Yes | No |
Test recommendations for each job role | Yes | No |
Multiple tests per assessment | Yes | Yes |
Resumes do a poor job of showing you candidates’ coding proficiency. Developer skill-related tests, however, can fairly and clearly indicate a candidate’s familiarity with coding languages and development frameworks.
In a testing platform, look for features like coding and debugging challenges and options to review how candidates approached each challenge.
TestGorilla’s evaluations cover a broad range of coding languages, including JavaScript, Python, C#, Scala, Kotlin, and more. Our language-agnostic test allows candidates to choose their preference from 20 coding languages, boosting their confidence going into an assessment.
Coding challenges can also be customized to reflect scenarios or issues likely to arise in your organization.
Criteria does not offer coding or programming skills tests. However, a partnership with HackerRank gives Criteria customers access to HackerRank’s library of coding skills assessments.
These assessments enable users to test candidates’ technical skills when hiring for web developers, software engineers, cloud and DevOps, and cybersecurity roles.
TestGorilla | Criteria(via HackerRank) | |
Coding languages | JavaScript, Java, Python, PHP, C, C#, C++, SQL, Kotlin, Ruby, TypeScript, Go, R, Scala, React, and Swift | Over 40 programming languages |
Web-development frameworks | Yes | Yes |
Mobile-development frameworks | Yes | Yes |
Algorithmic-thinking challenges | Yes | Yes |
Debugging challenges | Yes | Yes |
Language-specific concept challenges | Yes | Yes |
Your own custom coding challenges | Yes | Yes |
Code-playback function | Yes | Yes |
Automated scoring | Yes | Yes |
Live peer coding | No | N/A |
Using one-way video interviews for preliminary screening can be a time-saving and cost-effective alternative to traditional interviews. Candidates can record their responses in their own time, and all candidates respond to the same set of questions.
Video interviews also add value to the hiring process by offering insights into each candidate’s communication skills.
TestGorilla supports one-way video interviews, as well as custom video questions within tests. These features make it easier to perceive the candidate’s communication style and also offer an interactive way for candidates to engage in the process.
Video interviews are fully customizable, letting you set the maximum answer length and add comments to a candidate’s response for easy sharing. You can also control the playback speed to suit your needs.
Criteria also supports one-way video interviews. Options are available to mask personal details and disguise the candidate’s voice to reduce unconscious bias. Video interview questions can also be customized. Hiring teams can add ratings and comments to candidates’ interview answers.
TestGorilla | Criteria | |
One-way video interview | Yes | Yes |
Custom video questions | Yes | Yes |
Record the number of candidates’ attempts | Yes | No |
Record and playback on any device | Yes | Yes |
Rate and comment video answers | Yes | Yes |
A positive candidate experience reduces test abandonment. It also encourages candidates to view pre-employment testing as a valuable component of the hiring process.
Platform features that support a good candidate experience include reasonable test length, mobile friendliness, and accessible customer support.
It’s also a good idea to look for pre-employment testing platforms that tie in company branding. Options to add your company logo and colors present a consistent experience for candidates.
TestGorilla includes features that make it easy for candidates to complete assessments. These include reasonable test lengths and enabling candidates to complete tests on any device.
Tests can be completed in as little as 10 minutes, and most assessments can be completed in 30-60 minutes. Candidates can access support as needed to ensure they complete tests to the best of their ability.
Company branding is included, and communications can be customized. You can add intro or outro videos to assessments as well as your organization’s logo and colors to keep the focus on your business.
Criteria offers a mobile-friendly test platform and game-based assessments for an engaging candidate experience. Assessments range between 1 minute and 35 minutes in length.
Candidates must provide their details to Criteria before they can access assessments.
Companies can brand Criteria assessments with their logo and colors. The same can be added to candidate communications and intro and outro videos.
TestGorilla | Criteria | |
Your company’s intro and/or outro video | Yes | Yes |
Assessments branded with your company logo and colors | Yes | Yes |
Customizable invitation and rejection emails | Yes | Yes |
No login required for candidates | Yes | Yes |
Mobile friendly | Yes | Yes |
Help and support for your candidates | Yes | Yes |
Typical assessment length | 30-60 minutes | 1-35 minutes |
Qualifying questions prior to assessment | Yes | No |
Pre-employment testing should have the ability to scale with your business. Look for options that fully integrate with your hiring process and match your recruitment needs.
Features that support scaling businesses include ATS integrations, GDPR compliance, and API access. Flexibility is important to ensure pre-employment testing adds value regardless of your organization’s size.
TestGorilla caters to all types of businesses, from startups to large enterprises. You can customize assessments to suit your organization's size and requirements, and our Free plan and Starter plan are tailored specifically for smaller ventures.
TestGorilla offers a range of features that make larger, enterprise-level recruitment seamless. These include ATS integrations, easy file-sharing options, and multiple user controls for managing large-scale recruitment.
TestGorilla is fully GDPR compliant, ensuring personal data is handled securely.
Criteria targets businesses of all sizes. However, it doesn’t offer as much flexibility to scale testing up or down with shifting hiring needs.
Criteria integrates with a range of ATS software and offers optional upgrades to customize ATS integrations. Candidates can be tracked throughout the hiring process, and bulk action pipelines help streamline administrative tasks. Criteria is also GDPR compliant.
TestGorilla | Criteria | |
ATS integrations | Yes | Yes |
Multiple users and role-based rights management | Yes | No |
GDPR compliant | Yes | Yes |
Multiple candidate invitation options | Yes | Yes |
Public link to invite candidates | Yes | Yes |
Public links for each candidate source | Yes | No |
Bulk invite candidates (CSV/XLSX upload) | Yes | Yes |
Track candidate stages from invited to hired | Yes | Yes |
API access | Yes | Yes |
Pre-employment testing must be accurate to add value. Quality-control measures ensure results are reliable and valid, with minimal errors or bias.
Look for a platform that prioritizes scientific question development, solicits feedback from customers and candidates, and refreshes questions regularly.
TestGorilla ensures test quality by undergoing a comprehensive 28-step quality-control process before tests are published. This includes rigorous peer review and evaluation by a psychometric testing expert.
TestGorilla further improves test quality by employing built-in quality-control features, like the replacement of questions after a set number of uses.
Feedback is solicited from both customers and candidates to continuously enhance test quality and optimize the assessment experience.
Criteria extensively reviews its assessments during initial development and on a continuous basis. This includes evaluating each assessment for validity, including construct, content, and criterion validity, based on standards developed by industrial/organizational psychology experts.
No mention is made on Criteria’s website as to whether test questions are replaced after overexposure.
Criteria solicits feedback from customers and test-takers to optimize assessments.
TestGorilla | Criteria | |
Proprietary algorithms that continuously improve the quality of each test | Yes | Yes |
Extensive quality checks before tests go live | Yes | Yes |
Questions replaced after reaching exposure limit | Yes | Unknown |
Customer feedback used to improve tests | Yes | Yes |
Test-taker feedback used to improve tests | Yes | Yes |
Anti-cheating measures keep test results accurate and fair. If some test-takers cheat by researching or sharing questions, this damages the validity of test results for everyone.
Features like test time limits, full-screen detection, and screen monitoring prevent candidates from seeking an unfair advantage.
TestGorilla has implemented several anti-cheating measures, including disabling copy and paste and detecting when a candidate leaves the full-screen test window.
Tests are time-limited, making it more difficult for candidates to conduct research or share questions.
TestGorilla also offers candidate monitoring features, such as logging the candidate’s IP address and taking webcam snapshots (with permission). These measures help ensure it’s actually the candidate completing each test.
Criteria provides very little information on its anti-cheating features and recommends employers re-test candidates on-site if they progress in the hiring process.
The platform logs the candidate’s location and sets time limits on tests to discourage cheating. Additionally, each test pulls from a large pool of questions and randomizes the questions that appear.
TestGorilla | Criteria | |
IP address logging (to avoid multiple attempts by the same candidate) | Yes | No |
Logging of a candidate’s location | Yes | Yes |
Webcam snapshots (with the option to turn on/off) | Yes | No |
Full-screen mode detection (to avoid research during the test) | Yes | No |
Randomized questions per test | Yes | Yes |
Large question pool for each test | Yes (100+) | Yes |
Questions and answers not visible to employers to protect test integrity | Yes | No |
Time limit on tests | Yes (typically 10 minutes) | Yes |
Copy-paste disabled | Yes | No |
Reporting and analytics draw valuable insights from candidate test results. They should summarize a candidate’s skills quickly and objectively.
Effective analytics help you easily decide which candidates move forward in the hiring process. Reports should be easy to access and simple to understand.
TestGorilla includes a range of analytics and reports. These include summarized and detailed analyses of each applicant’s performance, including their strengths and weaknesses in specific areas. Candidates can be easily ranked within their talent pool and against set benchmarks.
Reports enable annotations to facilitate real-time recording of impressions and easier sharing with hiring team members.
Reports can also be downloaded in PDF, XLSX, or CSV format.
Candidates can also access their individual results by creating a profile at the end of their assessment.
Criteria’s analytics dashboard offers insights into:
The assessment process, including the number of completed assessments and average completion time.
Candidate scores, such as candidate score comparisons and candidate satisfaction.
Users can generate reports using various filters and download these reports as CSV files.
TestGorilla | Criteria | |
PDF reports of assessments and individual candidates | Yes | N/A |
Excel and CSV reports of assessments and individual candidates | Yes | Yes (CSV) |
Comprehensive overview for all current and past candidates | Yes | Yes |
Scoring benchmarks for candidates (including percentile rank scoring) | Yes | N/A |
Add your ratings and personal notes for candidates | Yes | N/A |
High-quality customer support helps recruiters build effective assessments quickly and confidently and provides candidates with assistance when completing a test.
Many platforms offer customer support through a range of channels, including live chat, email, or phone support.
TestGorilla offers customer support to both hiring teams and candidates.
Customers and test-takers receive live chat and email support.
An online help center provides comprehensive guides and answers to FAQs for companies and candidates.
TestGorilla offers a detailed onboarding tour to help new customers get started and learn how to use all of TestGorilla’s features.
Criteria offers comprehensive customer support. An onboarding tour is included for new customers as they first begin to navigate the platform.
Candidates can access a range of FAQs and online help articles.
TestGorilla | Criteria | |
Live chat | Yes | Yes |
Help center | Yes | Yes |
Email support | Yes | Yes |
Training and onboarding tour | Yes | Yes |
Phone assistance | No | No |
Most pre-employment testing platforms offer monthly subscriptions based on a per-user or per-test model. Pricing plans may also be offered on an annual basis.
It’s important to pay close attention to what’s on offer. Some platforms limit the number of users or candidates that can access the platform each month. While others may offer free trials or a free plan.
Discover easy, efficient hiring with TestGorilla. Our platform simplifies candidate evaluation, saving time, money, and effort. Sign up for our free plan to transform your recruitment journey!
TestGorilla’s pricing plans are based on the number of full-time employees (FTEs) who use it. For example, two employees who job-share and work part-time count as one FTE.
TestGorilla offers three pricing plans, including a free plan:
Free forever at $0. Full access to five free tests for companies of all sizes.
Depending on the size of your company, paid plans begin with:
Starter from $75 USD per month (or $900 per year paid upfront) for 1-15 FTEs. Get started with skills-based hiring! There is also monthly pricing available for companies with more than 15 FTEs.
Pro from $115 USD per month (or $1,380 per year paid upfront) for 1-15 FTEs. Maximize your hiring with advanced features! Monthly pricing is available for businesses with more than 15 FTEs.
Note that businesses with up to 15 FTEs must sign up for an annual plan.
Criteria offers two pricing plans:
Professional: For most business types and sizes
Talent Success Suite: An end-to-end hiring solution
Pricing for all Criteria plans is by request only. Although no free plan is available, you can access a free trial.
TestGorilla | Criteria | ||
Plan | Price (billed annually) | Plan | Price |
Free forever | $0 | No free plan | |
Starter | From $75 per month for companies with 1-15 FTE ($900 paid upfront/monthly pricing available). Unlimited usage. | Professional | By request |
Pro | From $115 per month for companies with 1-15 FTE ($1,380 paid upfront/monthly pricing available). | Talent Success Suite
| By request |
Your hiring team and candidates are more likely to be open to a pre-employment testing platform that is easy to use.
It’s important to seek out a platform that is straightforward to navigate, offers an intuitive interface, and provides clear instructions and support.
TestGorilla provides an accessible and user-friendly pre-employment testing platform that is appreciated by customers and candidates alike.
Customers enjoy TestGorilla’s intuitive interface. You can create and send out your first assessment in minutes, and candidate tracking features make it easy to find where candidates are in the hiring process at any point.
Candidates also appreciate uncomplicated tests which are simple to access and complete. Clear instructions, one-click access, and available support prevent assessments from becoming a burden for candidates.
Criteria offers a simple testing invitation procedure that can be used at any stage in the hiring process. Test options are recommended by job, and tests are available for more than 1,100 positions. However, it’s unclear how easily test results can be shared amongst hiring team members.
Criteria’s mobile-friendly platform makes it simple for candidates to complete tests where and when they prefer.
TestGorilla and Criteria provide similar approaches to pre-employment screening, but TestGorilla is more comprehensive and flexible.
Both platforms offer a wide range of tests that measure job-specific skills, personality traits, and general aptitude, but TestGorilla’s test library is more extensive.
TestGorilla also offers more flexible pricing, including a Free plan. This means TestGorilla can support your needs whether you are hiring your first employee or your next thousand.
Pre-employment testing lets you take a skills-based approach to recruitment and reduces the influence of unconscious bias. It also saves your organization time and minimizes the cost of ineffective mis-hires.
Sign up for a free demo today to start seeing how TestGorilla can benefit your business. We’ll help you find the best plan to improve your company’s hiring process.
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